Dana L. Yeoman, DDS

Dentures and Implants

The Power of a Smile to Transcend Borders Part 16

Site last published: 08/28/10

The Power of a Smile to Transcend Borders Part 16

Taking the children's photographs was quite an event. (I think we need to remind them where we are) So it was great the next day to find ourselves on the metro train headed to downtown Kiev for some relaxation and sight seeing. The metros are a great way to travel, but I discovered there is one enormous problem as a foreigner. I couldn’t read the signs in the Cyrillic alphabet to know if I had arrived at my stop. After several weeks in Ukraine, the letters almost started looking familiar, but the words still looked more like long, skinny picture-drawings.

At one stop, the train door opened and my dreamy-eyed companion stepped outside onto the platform. All the Americans started yelling, “No, no, no! Get back on the train! Quick!” The startled Ukrainians looked at us with quiet annoyance. My poor friend, however, was horrified as she realized her carelessness almost got her forever separated from the rest of our group in a foreign land.

The main street in downtown Kiev is called Kreschatik and every afternoon they block it off to turn it into a walking street. Many friends meet to have drinks at the sidewalk cafes, and to watch and listen to street musicians. Peddlers selling jewelry and souvenirs are everywhere. I even had my photo taken with “Elvis” by a lovely water fountain. Tourists come here to see the beautiful buildings and monuments gracing the streets and squares. The energy is always high as people are having a good time.

I had wanted to find an amber necklace as a special Ukrainian souvenir. I found several lovely pieces in the only department store in the downtown area. Having picked out one that captured my fancy, I took it to the sales clerk to ring up. Natalia, a 52 year old school teacher, was helping me translate. She was fascinated I was going to use my credit card to purchase something, because she had never seen one used before. I don’t know if she expected magic or something, but the clerk did disappear with my card for a long time. I think their machine may have been in the basement of the old stone building because it didn’t get frequent use. The poor sales lady was greatly inconvenienced in order to let me conveniently use my credit card.

Since there were not enough translators to go around, I found myself alone with another American wandering the streets and taking in the sights. Everything was going as smoothly as could be expected in a place where hand gestures and sounds were more effective than words. As I stopped to fix my shoe along the side of the street, I noticed my friend was fumbling for his camera in a huge hurry. Looking around at what might have captured his attention, I was terrified to witness a parade of people marching down the thoroughfare. They were wearing orange scarves, waving orange flags, and chanting something unintelligible but obviously political.

Generally a parade is something for which to be happy. My knowledge of history did not inspire joy, however. From my perspective, protests in communist countries never went well. Tiananmen Square was an example of one vivid protest that had gone poorly during my lifetime. I had also seen disturbing footage of the Soviet tanks rolling into Budapest, Hungary to squash the 1956 uprising. I didn’t know how long before the tanks would arrive. Worse, I would have no way to tell if they would be in support of the parade or against it until it was too late.

While my friend played war photojournalist trying to get his Pulitzer shot, I quickly scanned for the most fortified building with the least amount glass that I could run into for cover. When I realized the best place to escape an AK-47 would be the the afore-mentioned department store, I made plans to hide with the credit card machine in the basement.